Wear plate for brake hanger brackets



1949 F. M. SCHAEFER WEAR PLATE FOR BRAKE HANGER BRACKETS Filed Jan. 19, 1949 p. W V New U J HTTOPNEYJ.

Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES WEAR PLATE FOR BRAKE HANGER BRACKETS This invention relates to Wear lates for the brake hanger brackets of railway car brake rigging.

A brake hanger bracket is usually a U-shape or jaw' like member having spaced top and bottom walls connected at one end by a vertical end wall. one common type of wear plate inserted in such brackets to provide a bearing for a brake hanger is a U-shape member having vertically spaced walls that engage the top and bottom walls of the bracket. Due to the brackets being rough castings in which the opposite walls may not be parallel transversely, or may not be spaced the correct distance apart, the wear plates often do not fit snugly against those walls. This permits the wear plates to vibrate and shake around in the brackets so that the engaging surfaces are worn excessively,

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a wear plate which will seat tightly in brackets regardless of inaccuracies in their shape, which will take up any wear as it occurs, and which, although made from two different elements, is permanently bound together as a unit.

In accordance with this invention the wear plate is formed from a base member provided at its inner end with a brake hanger seat. The outer end of the base member has a high wall provided centrally with an outwardly facing recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical fastener for holding the plate in a brake hanger bracket. Mounted on top of this wall is an upwardly bowed spring plate whose ends rest on the Wall at opposite sides of the recess. The spring plate is provided with a vertical fastenerrece'iving opening above the Wall recess, and they are positioned for alignment with fastener openings in the bracket. To hold the spring plate and base member together so that they can be handled as a unit when not in the bracket, the

spring plate is provided with bifurcated ends that straddle upstanding tongues on the top of the Wall at opposite sidesof the base member recess. The tongues are bent toward each other sufficiently to retain the spring plate on the base hanger bracket shown in broken lines; and Fig. 3 is a front view of the wear plate.

Referring to the drawings, this Wear plate has two main parts; namely, a base member I and a spring plate 2. The base member is formed for seating in the usual manner on the lower wall of a brake hanger bracket 3 indicated in broken lines in Figs. 2 and 3. The inner or rear end of the base is provided with a concave seat 4" extending across it for receiving the upper yoke 6 of a brake hanger, also indicated in broken lines in the same two figures. Directlyin front of this seat the base is increased in thickness considerably toform a high wall 1. The front or outer surface of this wall is provided with a deep outwardly facing recess 8 that also is open at top and bottom. The inner surface of this recess is provided with a pair of parallel vertical ribs 8, between which the surface of the wall is curved transversely to fit about half way around a vertical fastening member, such as a cotter pin Ill, that holds the wear plate in the hanger bracket. Because of the relatively great height cf the Wall E, the fastener has an area of coiltact with the wear plate that is of considerable length, and therefore they will not wear each other appreciably.

It is a feature of this invention that the spring plate 2 has an upwardly bowed body whose ends rest on top of Wall E of the base member at epposi'te sides of recess 8. The ends of the spring plate are notched or bifurcated so that they can straddle upstanding tongues ll that are integral with the top of wall '5'. The tongues are bent toward each other over the top of the spring to hold it in place on the base member at all times. However, there is enough clearance between the spring plate and tongues to allow the plate to be depressed or flattened without interference by the tongues. The corner portions of the spring plate rest slid'a'bly in notches l2 formed in the top of the base member at opposite sides of each tongue. Here again there is enough clearance between the ends of the spring and the adjacent end walls of the notches to permit the spriii to' be depressed when the wear plate is driven into the bracket. The central part of the spring plate is provided with a vertical opening is to permit the cotter pin to extend through the spring. The central part of the spring plate also is widened out to increase the width of the metal around opening i3 so that the opening will not weaken the spring plate materially.

The spring plate always is flattened to a more or less extent when the wear plate is driven into bracket 3, thus causing the wear plate to fit tightly in the bracket, regardless of inaccuracies of manufacture. If wear occurs, the spring plate will bow upward and maintain the wear plate tight in the bracket so that vibration will not take place.

To provide for the unlikely situation where the spring might break, the top of Wall E at opposite ends of the spring is provided with integral upstanding bosses M on opposite sides of tongues ll. These bosses project up a distance that will be just short of the upper wall of the smallest bracket 3 into which the wear plate may have to be inserted. If the spring plate breaks, bosses M will restrict the rising of the wear plate off the lower wall of the bracket to the very short clearance between the tops of the bosses and the upper wall of the bracket. This will materially reduce vibration and wear of the wear plate in the bracket.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, and an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess, the spring plate being provided with a vertical iastener-receiving opening above said recess.

2. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, and an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess, the spring plate having a widened central portion provided with a central vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess.

3. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess, and projections on top of said wall for holding the plate in position thereon, the spring plate being provided with a vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess.

4. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess, and projections on top of said wall beyond but close to the opposite ends of the plate to limit endwise movement of the plate on the base member, the spring plate being provided with a vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess.

5. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a bracket fastener, tongues integral with the top of said wall on opposite sides of said recess, and an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess and provided with notches receiving said tongues, and the center of the spring plate being provided with a vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess.

6. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said, plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, the top of said wall at each side of the recess being provided with a pair of notches separated by an upstanding tongue, and an upwardly bowed spring plate having bifurcated ends straddling said tongues and disposed in said notches at opposite sides of said recess, the tongues being bent toward each other to hold the spring plate on said base member, the spring plate being provided with a vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess.

7. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, the top of said wall being provided with upstanding bosses, and an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess, the spring plate being provided with a vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess.

8. A wear plate for use in a railway car brake hanger bracket, said plate comprising a base member provided with a brake hanger seat at its inner end, the outer end of the base member having a high wall provided centrally with a recess adapted to receive a substantially vertical bracket fastener, and an upwardly bowed spring plate having its ends resting on top of said wall at opposite sides of said recess, the spring plate being provided with a vertical fastener-receiving opening above said recess, and the top of said wall at opposite sides of the recess being provided with upstanding bosses whose upper ends are located at a lower level than the highest point of the spring plate.

FREDERIC M. SCI-IAEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,074,707 Schaefer Mar. 23, 1937 2,188,268 Light Jan. 23, 1940 

